Class Physical Exercise in Children and Adolescents

This CU focuses on the area of physical activity and exercise in children and adolescents and aims to provide students with knowledge of the current recommendations on physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep for children and adolescents issued by the main world reference bodies in the field. It is also intended that students develop skills in the assessment of physical activity and physical fitness related to health and motor development in children and adolescents, as well as in the prescription of physical activity in these age groups. Lastly, this CU seeks to provide knowledge on physical literacy and develop students’ skills on its assessment and promotion. This CU is the only one in the study cycle that specifically addresses the pediatric population, and as such, it is of paramount importance in providing students with a solid body of knowledge in this area. The CU is therefore linked to the others by an approach that aims to integrate previously acquired knowledge.

Not applicable

1.Physical literacy in children and adolescents. 1.1. Definition and dimensions of physical literacy. 1.2. Tools for assessing physical literacy. 1.3. Strategies for promoting physical literacy and its different dimensions. 2.Importance and recommendations for 24-hour movement behaviors in children and adolescents. 3.Harms of sedentary behavior and risks associated with physical activity/exercise. 4.The importance of sleep for health. 5.Assessment and prescription of 24-hour movement behaviors for children and adolescents. 6.Anthropometric and body composition assessments in children and adolescents.   6.1.Methods, techniques and instruments.   7.Health-related physical fitness      7.1.Cardiorespiratory fitness      7.2.Muscular fitness   8.Assessment of health-related physical fitness and motor development in children and adolescents   9.Physical exercise in health and disease      9.1.Associations with overweight and obesity      9.2.Associations with cardiometabolic health parameters

This CU will use expository methods and experiential learning; resolution of practical cases; Search and analysis of scientific articles; Activities in small groups. - Continuous assessment method: Intervention project in pairs (75%) and resolution of case studies/classroom tasks (25%). Grades <9,5 are considered insufficient, and the student may take a recovery assessment test (oral or written) whenever the pondered average of the grades is ≥9.5. The recovery test can only be taken for one of the assessment components, in the last class of the semester. Attendance must be 70% of the total number of classes. - Assessment by final exam (appeal season and/or special season) will involve a written test, with oral assessment (only students with a mark ≥9.5 in the theory test will have access to the oral test). The two components each have a weight of 50% for the final grade of the exam.

Whitehead, M. (2010). Physical Literacy throughout the Lifecourse. Routledge. NY, USA. Tremblay MS, Carson V, Chaput JP, et al. (2016). Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth: An Integration of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab, 41:S311-S327. ACSM (2018). ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (10th edition). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. GBD 2015 Obesity Collaborators. (2017). Health effects of overweight and obesity in 195 countries over 25 years. New England journal of medicine, 377(1), 13-27. Cattuzzo, M. T., dos Santos Henrique, R., Ré, A. H. N., de Oliveira, I. S.,... & Stodden, D. (2016). Motor competence and health related physical fitness in youth: A systematic review. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 19(2), 123-129. Newell K, Wade M G. (2018). Physical Growth, Body Scale, and Perceptual-Motor Development. Advances in Child Development and Behavior. Elsevier Inc, volume 55.